National Academy of Education President Nel Noddings gave a talk on community and education on February 2, 2007, at the Shaw Center for the Arts. Advance Baton Rouge sponsored the event that drew more than 125 audience members, a number of them LSU undergraduate and graduate students involved in the Holmes and PK-3 programs in the College of Education.

A world-renowned educator, Noddings is the Lee Jacks Professor of Education Emerita at Stanford University that has authored a dozen books and is credited for developing the concept of caring in a classroom.

After the Shaw Center event, Noddings participated in the College of Education’s Curriculum Camp held at the Solomon Episcopal Conference Center February 3 – 5, 2007. The camp hosts graduate students from universities across the South to present their work in the broad areas of curriculum and instruction.

The 2007 Curriculum Camp attracted more than 50 attendees from 11 different universities. Noddings talked with students and professors about her book Critical Lessons: What Our Schools Should Teach (2006), discussing how she organized the writing of and material in the publication. Noddings also engaged the students during their presentations and led a reflection on the group’s activities on the closing night around a real campfire.

“Her conversations went beyond the antiquated style of teaching and learning, the ‘Mind is a Muscle’ metaphor,” said College of Education doctoral student Sean Buckreis. “Dr. Noddings inspired us not to force an intellectual exercise but rather to place learning in context to the students’ interests—while keeping it just as rigorous.”

Noddings has been a close friend of College of Education Professor William Doll for the past 35 years.

“She came out of respect for that friendship and to honor him in his last semester of teaching at LSU,” said College of Education Dean M. Jayne Fleener. “It will be difficult to match the enthusiasm and engagement at this year’s curriculum camp.”